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Plastic Feeders

Clive Kenyon

Clive Kenyon

Senior Member
I made some feeders out of plastic mesh specifically to fish a snag pit where my metal feeders were useless. I fished them on a weak link expecting them to get shredded and / or fall off the rig. In the event they were more durable than I expected as in many cases when stuck they could be pulled free.

They are made from a plastic mesh sold for baking. The last sheet I got was from the poundshop and one sheet will make up to 12 feeders. I weave a tie wrap round, 2 squares in, 2 squares out to strengthen them. For larger feeders, 2 tie wraps, one at each end is better.

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I use lead flashing for the weight and some 60lb shock leader for the loop. Nothing fancy, cheap and simple like me.
 
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You could attach a conventional lead to the bottom of the feeder using a split ring attached to something secure.
 
I will certainly give this a go. I used to tie my own flies and always a thrill to catch a trout on a home made fly. I think the few I did catch were probably short sighted ones!
 
You can buy flat lead on rolls via Amazon and other online outlets. I used to get roofing lead from a local scrap yard, and we bought plumbing pipe by the stone when molding sea fising weights. I also seem to recall that dead cow leads are available from some angling stores.

I can't see the point of using anything but lead for what are essentially disposable items.
 
Nice one Clive.

Have you got a link for the mesh? I have a box full of squashed feeders a mate made for me, the leads/dead cows are ok but the meshes are trashed.
 
Put BBQ grill mat into your favourite search engine. They are on sale online at just over £3 per grid, but a couple of years ago I got three for three quid from the poundshop. One grid will make 12 medium sized feeders.
 
Out walking this morning I passed what looked like a piece of shredded plastic , on closer inspection it was in fact a piece of a tree protector , the tubular plastic that gardeners grow trees in if there is a chance of them getting eaten. This one had blown down the path from a nearby reservoir.
Anyway I remembered this thread and saw a possibility straight away. I have been making my own feeders for probably 20 years and have about 60 or so of different types.

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I always like something different so came up with these. Strip lead for weight and the rest is as Clive described earlier.


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Cheap as chips , total cost 3 swivels and 8 small cable ties , in fact they could be effectivley made for nothing if you were so inclined .

David
 
They look tough and probably more rigid than the BBQ grid material. A great way to minimise cost. As a Yorkshireman I like that. :)

Being a Yorkshireman I prefer to have the swivel on the line, not on the feeder. I usually have a swivel running on the line attached to a chod clip attached to a link, these three items are inside a latex tube. That way I don't need a swivel on the feeder so there is just a simple loop of mono to attach to the link.
 
I have a clip link on a swivel running on the line also Clive, so I can exchange the feeder easily for a lead should I want to use a PVA bag instead .
There is no real need for the swivel on the feeder at all, the loop of mono to which its tied as you say would do the job just as well, in fact most of the feeders in the tub in the pic only have a mono loop .
I admit I saw your post and went out and bought a sheet of the BBQ grill material, which looks identical to that you used, and yes, the green cage material I found is a lot more rigid, as rigid as most commercially made feeders. I gave the grid matting to SWMBO , more stuff for her dept, less stuff for mine.


David.
 
David Craine said:
I have a clip link on a swivel running on the line also Clive, so I can exchange the feeder easily for a lead should I want to use a PVA bag instead .
There is no real need for the swivel on the feeder at all, the loop of mono to which its tied as you say would do the job just as well, in fact most of the feeders in the tub in the pic only have a mono loop .
I admit I saw your post and went out and bought a sheet of the BBQ grill material, which looks identical to that you used, and yes, the green cage material I found is a lot more rigid, as rigid as most commercially made feeders. I gave the grid matting to SWMBO , more stuff for her dept, less stuff for mine.


David.
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The BBQ grid is made from textile net covered in plastic and is very strong. The beauty of it though is that it collapses if jammed and releases in most cases. I rarely lose one to snags.
 
Clive Kenyon said:
The BBQ grid is made from textile net covered in plastic and is very strong. The beauty of it though is that it collapses if jammed and releases in most cases. I rarely lose one to snags.
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Reading on e.bay, it says it is made from fibreglass matting which would make it practically indistructible.Being e.bay I would not be too sure, but it has a weave which looks very fibreglass like . I have not cut it so cannot say.
Basically though, feeders as far as I am concerned, and as you say Clive are effectivley a disposable item, just a way of getting a feed trail from a to b,and they can really be made from anything that will contain a basic stiffish feed mix and release it.All the ones I have made including the green mesh ones are plastic of some form or other.
I have not paid for one for over 20 years , although I must say that some more
” professionally made “ ones shown on here are state of the art, and very well put together .
These days a greater concern to me really is the amount of “ junk” we all leave in our waterways , either by accident or fashion design, by design I mean the fashion for dropping leads on the retrieve when it is not neccessary. I am as bad as anybody I suppose so far as feeders are concerned . I do keep a lookout for bio degradable items that could be used in order to keep the pollution aspect as low as possible. not very successfully as yet.
I do think it a bit hypocrytical of us as anglers to harp on about various pollutants in our rivers and yet still on occasion leave mono, braid, plastic feeders, etc etc in the water , they will still probably be there when we have all popped our clogs .

David.
 
From a purely eco point of view you have found litter and are putting it to good use. Where I live there are thousands of those things layed about in the woodland. There mjght be a few less by the weekend ;)

I can appreciate a nicely made float and can gain satisfaction from catching a fish on a home tied fly. But as far as feeders are concerned; they are purely functional and made to do a job, nothing fancy. I try to make them as cheaply as possible and with as little drag as possible. The galvanised mesh ones with the ends folded over are ideal. But plastic ones ae a lot easier and quicker to make.
 
Just had a thought, maybe bamboo with a soft wire loop instead of mono would fit the bilI .I usually have leftovers from making laanding net poles . I will get onto it and report back 👍

David
 
I find the galv too soft on its own. Bends far too easily in 0.8 gage I get. Stainless however is loads better. You could use that uncoated with total confidence it’s gonna stay straight
 
I used to fish the river Weser in Germany which presented many of the problems the Trent does but on a bigger scale.

My solution was as a result of my wife loving crafts, she used this product and I immediately saw it's potential.

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I made all different sizes of feeders which I stapled together with a mini stapler and then added various types of lead weighting.
 
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